The city was destroyed by Genghis Khan in 1219, although the great conqueror had found that the Khorezmshah had already sacked the city in 1214. Under the Timurids and subsequent Shaybanid dynasties the city revived, despite occasional attacks by the Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Persians, Mongols, Oirats and Kalmyks.
In 1809, Tashkent was annexed to the Khanate of Kokand. At the time, Tashkent had a population of around 100,000 and was considered the richest city in Central Asia. It prospered greatly through trade to Russia, but chafed under Kokand’s high taxes. The Tashkent clergy also favored the clergy of Bukhara over that of Kokand. However, before the Emir of Bukhara could capitalize on this discontent, the Russian army arrived.
At the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Tashkent was the fourth largest city in the country and a center of learning in the science and engineering fields.
With the 1966 earthquake and the Soviet redevelopment afterward, very little is left of Tashkent's ancient history, including its significance as a trading point on the historic Silk Road.
Tashkent is currently divided into the following districts (Uzbek tuman):BektemirChilanzarHamzaMirobodMirzo UlugbekSergeliShaykhontohurOlmazarUchtepaYakkasarayYunusabadAt the time of the Tsarist take over it had four districts (Uzbek daha):BeshyoghochKukchaShaykhontokhurSebzorIn 1940 it had the following districts (Russian район):OktyabrKirovStalinFrunzeLeninKuybishevBy 1981 they were reorganized into:BektemirAkmal-Ikramov (Uchtepa)KhamzaLenin (Mirobod)Kuybishev (Mirzo Ulugbek)SergeliOktober (Shaykhontokhur)Sobir RakhimovChilanzarFrunze (Yakkasaray)Kirov (Yunusabad)